Louisville Defeats Bellarmine, 100-68

The Louisville Cardinals defeated the Bellarmine Knights by a score of 100-68. Even though the outcome seems pretty lopsided on the surface, it was, at times, closer than the score indicates. The Cardinals were missing two key rotation players tonight in Aboubacar Traore and Koren Johnson, while Bellarmine was without its leading scorer in Jack Karasinski. However, players on both sides made up for the absent production. 

Louisville had 5 players in double figures, with Terrence Edwards (10-14, 4-7 from 3) and Kasean Pryror (5-12, 2-6 from 3) led the way for the Cardinals. As a team, UofL shot 55% from the floor (35-64), 34% from 3 (12-35), and 75% from the free throw line (18-24). The Cards dominated the glass and the paint, finishing with a 14 point lead in both categories. 

Bellarmine's effort was much more lopsided. As mentioned previously, the Knights were without their leading scorer, so, Ben Johnson, who has started the season cold, went off tonight in Karasinski's absence, scoring 29 points with 6 made 3's. At least half of those three pointers were taken damn near from the parking lot. Credit to Johnson for trying to keep Bellarmine in the game against a more talented opponent. As a team, the Knights shot a respectable 45% from the field (24-53), 36% from 3 (9-25), and 65% from the charity stripe (11-17).

The game was surprisingly chippy at times, with Bellarmine guard, Dylan Branson, getting into it with multiple players on the Cardinals' roster throughout the game. He would be ejected late in the second half for an admittedly dirty play by deliberately shoving Kasean Pryor on a rebound attempt. Obviously, it makes sense for players to be frustrated when you've started 0-5 and are losing by 30+ points to your current opponent, but acts like that simply aren't excusable. 

For Louisville, I would rate this performance as a C+ game, at best. They started off hot from 3, but went absolutely cold in the second half. Although they were down Koren Johnson, arguably their best ISO player, there's still no excuse for the lack of rhythm at times on offense. It's understandable that this roster will take time to mesh together, as this an entirely new team with a fresh coaching staff. However, the sloppiness at times, if not fixed, will come back to haunt the Cardinals. They're talented enough to stomp on lower-level opponents such as Bellarmine, which is something they haven't been able to do in recent years, but that should be the bare minimum expectation at a program like Louisville. Simply put, the lack of individual offensive talent may be the team's biggest weakness. 

To make up for not having a star-level scorer, fans assumed that Louisville's three-point shooting and hustle would make up for offensive deficiencies and lack of size. However, the lack of a strong paint presence and pure scorer will likely prove to be this team's kryptonite. If the Cards can't become more efficient and consistent from long range, they will likely be biting their nails on Selection Sunday.

At the end of the day, Louisville should still be an NCAA Tournament team. They've dominated all of their competition outside of Tennessee, who came in to the Yum! Center and absolutely demolished the Cards, however, that likely was an offensive outlier for both Louisville and Tennessee. It won't be long before we find out what this team is made of when not facing either a low-quality division-1 team or a top 3 defense in the country. The Cards' next opponent is Winthrop--Pat Kelsey's old club. But, after that, the challenges arrive in full-force, as the Cardinals will participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis, then play against ranked teams in Ole Miss, Duke, and Kentucky, respectively. By then, we'll know if my pessimism is well-founded or absolute bull shit. Hears to me (hopefully) being wrong!